


Like Only Partners Can

by J_Lucy_Daisuke



Category: Lupin III
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-23 12:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13190181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Lucy_Daisuke/pseuds/J_Lucy_Daisuke
Summary: Zenigata has one last chance to prove to the new director of ICPO that he's still fit to be out in the field and chasing Lupin, instead of stuck with some job filing away paperwork. But will his new partner, an ex-Israeli military member turned inspector, be a hindrance or a help? In addition this this, Zenigata's ex-wife has come out of the woodwork demanding child support and alimony from their divorce years ago.No pressure, right?





	1. Chapter 1

“IDIOT!” the brand-new ICPO director shouted in Zenigata’s direction. All of the windows of the office rattled, including the ones that looked out on the rest of the office. Everyone briefly stopped rushing around, only to resume the hustle and bustle around the office after a moment, lest they be caught snooping at the director and one of the most senior inspectors still at Interpol.

Plus there was so much to worry about than the old man who ran after the thief.

“Twenty MILLION in damages! Do you know what that even TRANSLATES into in francs!?”

“N-No,sir.” Zenigata admitted, remaining there motionless like a statue and gripping onto his old, brown hat.

“An entire class on a school field trip, traumatized—Probably for life! The entire Bronx Zoo released—On YOUR watch!” The director slammed his hands down on the desk and sighed. “…I can’t keep covering your ass like this, Zenigata. The last director might have, but not me. I should fire you. That’s what a sane person would do in this instance.”

Zenigata’s head shot up immediately—For the first time, his stoic expression shifted to something…. Possibly worry?

“…But you still have more experience than half of these jackasses out there. And you’re one of the two people here who remembers paper filing. Actually, that’s not a bad idea. You’re on filing duty now.”

“W-What—You can’t—”

“Excuse me?” It felt as though all of the oxygen left the room in one go. “I know you weren’t telling your superior they couldn’t do something.”

“No. I just.”

“Zenigata… You’re a different school of detective. I can appreciate that. You have a lot to offer. But I think that your talents can be better used in a different role within this office at this point. I don’t want to let you go but…. It’s hard to justify so much money being thrown at one group of crooks.”

Zenigata’s hands clenched the hat even tighter, to the point where he could feel himself shaking. “…With all due respect, sir… This isn’t just a group of crooks. They’re world-class thieves.”

“And how high do art thieves place nowadays? Where would you place them among human traffickers, warlords, or drug dealers? About... Where would you rank a bank theft, or a missing necklace? Maybe a little below weapons dealers?”

Zenigata remained silent at this.

“…Inspector Zenigata… The world is a dangerous place. A thief is no laughing matter, especially one that causes destruction like this… But we only have so many resources, and so many bigger worries nowadays.”

“So we’re just… Going to give up on Lupin?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m going to be turning it over to one of our newer detectives. She’s ex-military, has a decent background in tracking down wanted criminals. Please collect your files and drop them on Inspector Yadin’s desk by the end of the day.”

“W-What?!”

“And that’s an order.”

“S-Sir! I… Let me have one more chance at this. Slash the budget, whatever you want! I’m right in the middle of a lead—!”

Lie.

“—And it would complete compromise the situation if I were to turn the assignment over to another officer—”

Again, a lie.

“—I’ve been on this case for years. I can’t possibly teach someone all of the intricacies through files!”

Okay. That was the truth.

The director, a man old enough to be Zenigata’s own son, went quiet. And he leaned back in his chair. And he thought. “…All right. You’ll take her on this case then to teach her those intricacies. And then you start your new role in filing when you return.”

And Zenigata’s hopes crashed down to the ground just as quickly as they had risen.

“…That will be all, Inspector.” And the chair turned away from Zenigata to face out the windows and look out at the Paris streets sent a very clear message to Zenigata—Get out.  
The old inspector’s shoulders fell, and he shuffled out, and fell silently into his desk chair.

Where to even begin with the files, he thought as he opened up one of the drawers of his abused desk. Every drawer was jammed full of them, to the point where it was a struggle to pry out one. But Zenigata managed to do so, and started to flip through it.

Ah. When Lupin stole the Jewel of the Nile. Good times—Aside from the scorpion stings, that was. Oh, and the crocodiles. Who would have thought the Nile would have those?

“I can’t… I can’t just turn over something like this! It’d be like turning over my life!” he grumbled to himself as he continued to pull out files and flip through them. They weren't just files; they were memories.

“Mr. Zenigata?” Zenigata raised his head at the unfamiliar male voice, and Zenigata gave a grunt in response.

“Yes?”

“Excellent. This is for you.” The younger man who looked like he needed a shave passed the manila envelope to Zenigata, and the inspector raised an eyebrow as he opened up the envelope and read over the contents—All in Japanese.

“A-Alimony?! Back… Back child support?!” he shrieked as he read over the words in large font, and he crumpled the paper in his fists.

 

He could count the number of times he’d actually taken a lunch break on one hand. He had spent this one on a long distance phone call to his ex-wife, shouting in a faraway phone booth.

“We’ve been divorced for fifteen years!” he snapped. “Why do you want alimony all of a sudden?!” 

“I got a new lawyer who looked over the paperwork. He says that I’m entitled under paragraph eight.”

“B-But what about this child support?! I paid that! I paid more than enough!”

“Not in the eyes of the court. I just want to give Toshiko what she’s entitled to.”

“She’s twenty-three! She's not a child! Also, I gave her enough to help put her through university! It’s not like I stranded you two!”

“No. Just emotional abandonment from when you would leave for months on end.”

Zenigata glowered at this; every time. Every time he talked to her, she found a way to bring this up.

“Either we can settle this like adults or we can get your work involved and get it taken out of your retirement.”

“What retirement?!”

“Wait… You’re still working? Oh, of course you’re still working. You’re probably in your office right now, aren’t you? That or some crummy hotel, crashing after that French cat burglar or whatever.”

“I’m doing neither of those! I’m out fishing!”

And a knock on the phone booth door. The young detective in the wrinkled suit looked more than a little nervous as he opened the door. “Inspector… Sorry about this, but we’re doing interrogations next door, and you’re really freaking out this assassin we have in there, so…”

Zenigata slammed the door again and turned his back to the younger detective, who greeted this with a huff before storming off.

“…Really, Koichi?”

“Listen, I have to go. We’ll discuss this more later. Your lawyer will talk to mine or whatever.”

Did he even remember how to get a lawyer? Maybe there was one floating around the offices who wouldn’t mind facing the fire-breathing dragon that was his ex-wife.

“All right. But this isn’t going to go away. It’s not like that thief—It’s not going to slip out of your grasp.”

Zenigata growled and shut off his cell phone. The only way this could get worse would be if some random detective walked in with Lupin as his captive.

That… Or a complete invasion of the personal space that was his desk.

The blonde woman was chewing a piece of gum as she flipped through the files. She wasn’t as old as him, but not as young as the preschool of detectives he seemed surrounded with anymore, either. She was in a pair of black leather boots, a purple knit dress with a turtleneck collar, and a black trench coat that went to just above her knees. Her nails were polished, and she wore light makeup. Her hair was wavy and large, pushed back with a purple headband. And Zenigata couldn’t help but notice the silver star-shaped pendant on her necklace.

She looked up at him upon feeling him seething beside her, and rose from the wooden chair at the desk. Her features were sharp, including a heart-shaped face, a defined nose, dark brown eyes, and a surprisingly warm smile as she reached out a hand to greet the inspector. “You must be Zenigata! I’m Natasha Yadin. I’m going to be going over the Lupin—”

“Inspector.”

“…Yes?”

“No. Inspector Zenigata,” he replied gruffly.

“Ohh… Right! Inspector Zenigata. I’m sure the director went over everything with you already and—Where are you going?”

“To catch Lupin. Where else?” Zenigata asked as he adjusted the hat on his head and headed towards the exit of the office.

“I was hoping for a debriefing on the case… Or a chance to find someone to water my plants at least?” she said as she followed him out of the office, a handful of files still in her hand.

“…Fine. We’ll meet back here in one hour.”

And hopefully that would buy Lupin enough time to announce his next huge heist... Because as it stood, Zenigata had no idea where Lupin was, or what he was up to.

He never thought he'd be silently hoping for Lupin to strike again.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour later, Zenigata was tapping his foot anxiously as he watched the news in the break room from a plastic chair he'd moved away from the tables and right in front of the television.

“Come on… Announce something… Don’t be on vacation this week… Please…” he murmured to himself, his eyes transfixed on the screen as he leaned forward on the chair.

“And in other news…” came the voice of the announce. “..Renowned thief Lupin the Third has announced his intentions of stealing the Pablo Picasso classic, “Violin Hanging on a Wall,” located in Bern, Switzerland. Guards are on high alert as—”

“YES!” shouted Zenigata in victory, and he sprung up from his chair with his hands raised, scaring a poor coworker who had only been looking to microwave her leftovers. He looked to her, mouth agape, and cringed outwardly. “Sorry, Sorry….”

“Inspector Zenigata?” Ugh. That’s right. Much like his impending showdown with his ex, this partner thing wasn’t going away anytime soon, either.

Natasha was there, looking at him with a curious glance. Shit. How long had she been there?

He cleared his throat and threw on his trenchcoat. “Lupin’s in Bern. We have to act fast.” 

“Yeah.... Following your lead,” she said, and followed him with her rolling suitcase in tow.

 

“So he has a partner. Good to know…” 

“What was that, Boss?” Jigen looked up from his spot on the couch and over towards Lupin. 

“Some intel from a friend inside Interpol offices. Apparently they ran Pops through the wringer and have him teaching a new inspector all about how to deal with us.”

“And the torch is passed.” Jigen reached out and flicked the ash off of his cigarette into an ashtray on his chest. “Good. The old man should enjoy some of his life without us harassing him.”

“Oh you’re insane to think that he’ll ever give up on chasing us, Jigen! He’ll find a way to keep at it. I have full faith in him.”

“So we know anything about this partner?”

“Got a photo. What a cutie, right?! And so blonde! I wonder if she’s one of those bubbly blondes!” Lupin giggled as he passed his cell phone over for Jigen to take a look at the woman captured in the photo. It was a picture of her looking up at Zenigata while she was seated at his desk.

“Who the hell do you even know that would get us this photo?”

“A gentleman never kisses and tells, Jigen-chan!”

“Ugh… Of course that’s how you’d know someone. So what are we gonna do? Call this job off and regroup?”

“Nah… I wanna see how these two play together. Pops is notoriously bad at teamwork. I feel like this might be in our favor!”

“You just like seeing the old guy get messed with.”

“I know! I’m awful!” Lupin admitted with a wide grin and laugh.

 

“So what is this?” Natasha wondered as she picked up the single paper from the file and watched it roll, and roll… And roll down the aisle of the airplane.

“Lupin’s known female associates.”

“You… Ever thinking of switching to digital? I feel like this might be a little better as a spreadsheet.” And she leaned down and started to roll the list back up, skimming it over every now and again. “Woah. Lady Gaga?”

“Mm. He’s been known to cavort with many dignitaries and royals.”

“She’s not… Nevermind. So he’s lady’s man, got it.”

“Right. So be on guard.”

“…Why would I need to be “on guard”?”

And Zenigata could sense the familiar chill that suddenly set in—The one from whenever he told his wife he was going to spend another day away, chasing Lupin. “Well, I… What I mean to say, he’s quick to seduce women of all kinds, so—”

“Looks like his one accomplice has been known to seduce men. You ever have to watch out for that?”

If he could have thrown himself out of the place instead of dealing with another moment of this conversation he’d accidentally walked into, he would have. In fact, the emergency exit wasn’t totally far away… He could totally make a lunge for it if he really needed to.

Her expression softened, and she snorted out a laugh. “I get it! Don’t worry. No falling for the enemy. I think I’ll be able to resist his monkey-face like charms.”

His tense shoulders fell, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. 

“I’ve worked mainly with men my entire life. I know how to keep it professional, not to worry.”

“That’s right… You’re ex-military, right?”

“Mm-hm! Sixteen years in the Israel Defense Force. Sergeant First Class Yadin. How about you? What’s your story?”

“I was born to bring justice into this world.”

“…Family of cops then. Gotcha. So… You have any kids who are looking to be cops now, or…?”

His look must have said everything, because her eyes widened slightly, and she gave a tense smile. “No kids. Got it.”

“…My daughter works in some advanced field. Beyond that, I’m not sure exactly what she does…. She’s tried to explain it to me, but it goes over my head.” All the more reason for him to probably give her another call, now that he thought about it….

“That’s great! And you’ll have to tell me the secret of how you balance family and work… Already, a few weeks on this job and I’ve killed two fish and a cactus from being so busy.”

You don’t balance it, Zenigata thought as he looked out the window of the airplane.

You don’t at all.

 

Lupin gave a whistle, and Jigen set aside his paper and looked over to his boss, who had been wiling his time away on a laptop in a corner of the hotel room. Goemon opened a single eye from his meditative spot near a window in the room, and Lupin motioned them both over.

“So this partner might be a little more high risk to us as we thought.”

He pressed play on the video he had been watching, and there was the cheerful woman in the photo—Or at least someone who looked like her. She wearing a black shirt and black yoga pants, with her hair tied up. It was in the middle of a gym, during what looked like some kind of exercise.

All three watched as with a few moves, including a groin kick to the man in the padded uniform, she had grabbed the fake gun he had been holding.

Jigen gave a wince as a phantom pain shot through him.

“Apparently her specialty is krav maga. Used to instruct it back in the military days…. Look, here’s one with a knife.”

And with another groin kick. Goemon could feel a twitch in one of his eyes as he watched this.

“So we’re investing in cups, right?” asked Jigen.

“I was hoping to carry on the family name for at least one more generation, Lupin,” added Goemon.

Lupin sighed and turned around to them both. “Really? That’s the one thing you both are worried about? It’s not like either of you have gotten that much use out of it really, am I right?”

If looks could kill, they would have both murdered Lupin at that moment. The thief only chuckled and held up his hands. “I’m joking, I’m joking! We’ll just have to keep our distance from this one, is all! And make sure she’s not wearing heels!”

“That’s for damn sure… Jesus… I need an ice pack just watching that…” Jigen muttered.

“You two are the biggest babies…” And Lupin turned back around to watch more of the videos.


	3. Chapter 3

“Oi vey what a long flight!” Natasha tilted her head from one side to another and sighed as they walked up to the hotel. Both were bundled up for the snowy Swiss winter, Zenigata mostly silent and with his thoughts focused on one thing—Finding Lupin.

He sighed in disdain as he felt his cell phone vibrate once again—The ex, no doubt. He didn’t get any other phone calls unless it was his superiors or his mother—And they didn’t contact him unless he had done something wrong, and she called him like clockwork. Wednesday evenings. Lupin or no Lupin.

Natasha was still dusting the snow off of her faux fur hat when they walked in, and Zenigata approached the desk, and with his gruff, limited French, grunted his orders to the man at the front counter.

And the confusion was clear on Zenigata’s face as he was handed over one room key.

“What—The reservation was for two rooms.”

The concierge tilted his head in confusion at this, and with some typing on the computer, glanced back to Zenigata and Natasha. “One room, two bed?”

“No! Two room—Two rooms—One bed each!”

“It’s no big deal.” Natasha shrugged and took the room key from her partner’s hand. “It’ll be easier to talk about the case that way, anyhow!”

First his desk… Now getting in the middle of his argument…. Zenigata clutched onto his suitcase handle tightly and started for the door, only to be interrupted by more buzzing.

“I’ll meet you up there!” he called out to Natasha as she climbed into the elevator, and she waved him off, albeit slightly confused.

And Zenigata steadily scared off anyone who dared enter the business center during the next half hour as he spoke to his ex-wife on the phone, offering her the reasons why he hadn’t spoken to his lawyer just yet, why he was “shuffling his feet,” and how he was doing no such thing at all to begin with.

The inspector didn’t even notice a familiar trio walk past him and stroll right into the restaurant. Lupin did, however, notice this long enough to stop and have Jigen begrudgingly snap his photograph in front of the glass of the business center, where Zenigata and his pacing was visible. Lupin posed in front of the same glass, and then the three continued on their way. 

“You sure it’s a good idea to be having a meeting out in the open like this, Boss?” Jigen glanced out from underneath his fedora, and Lupin shrugged and grinned.

“I’m not sure what Pops was on about, but it looks like it’s gonna keep him busy! Plus our contact is right over there.” Lupin nodded, and among the crowd in the restaurant there was a single woman sipping a cup of tea while glancing at her laptop. That was about the only normal thing about her. She was dressed in a dark and light purple kimono, with her long black hair pulled back loosely and a heavy gray shawl wrapped about her shoulders.

“Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Amaya Kumori—She’s the wonderful little genius who gave me the access I needed to overhear Interpol’s inner-office conversations. Amaya-chan, did they refill the coffee machine yet?”

The Japanese woman pulled out a pair of earbuds and looked up to Lupin with a pleasant grin. “Not yet. And there’s still the argument over whether or not they should just switch to Keurig.”

“So this is how you knew about Yadin.” Jigen gave a laugh. “What’s with the traditional getup?”

“Hrm?” she glanced down at her kimono. “It’s just a little bit comfier. I started wearing them when I moved out of my family’s home and I really haven’t stopped. Plus I travel a lot, so this is like a little part of Japan when I’m away. Helps things stay normal.”

“Of course. That’s obvious, Jigen,” Goemon piped in.

“Well pardon me,” Jigen laughed in return.

“I see you’re a fan, too.” Amaya gave a polite smile to Goemon, and Lupin raised an eyebrow at this, and pulled up one of the wooden chairs nearby, which he sat down backwards in.

“Amaya-chan here is great with all sorts of stuff that goes over my head. I love technology, but it’s moving too quick, even for me. I figured why not high a freelancer?”

“So you’re letting a random woman in on this? Tch.” And Jigen turned his head to a side.

“Amaya-chan is no ordinary woman, that I reassure you, Jigen!” Lupin replied with a wide grin. “She’s one of the keys to getting this next treasure! See, it has four sets of alarms. You and Goemon can take out one each of them, and then Amaya-chan’s got the other two. Isn’t that right?!”

“I’ll definitely do my best.”

“And you’ve done something like this before?” asked Jigen.

Lupin huffed in disappointment. “You’ll have to forgive Mr. Grumpy. Not very trusting of women.”

“No offense taken. I get that it’s a small club. I hope that I can prove my loyalty to you all in due time.”

“Amaya-chan, you will, I know it! You have my full faith!” Lupin said with a wink.

“I also have all of those files you requested.” She handed him a flashdrive, and Lupin took it and giggled as he saw the flashdrive with in the shape of a small, cartoonish frog.

“The best! Simply the best!” 

“Yeah? Well, how much are we paying for “the best”?”

“Don’t worry, Jigen-chan! It’s barely coming out of your pay.”

“Barely?!”

“Ah, we better get going—Looks like the hotel is coming to tell the old man to wrap up his phone call. Until we meet again!” Lupin rose from his seat and blew a kiss to the woman in the kimono, and she smiled slightly and put in one of her earbuds once more.

Jigen and Lupin were already headed out, and Goemon was slow to trail behind him when he heard the woman at the table clear her throat.

Amaya was holding out a business card when he turned around to face her, and she gave a soft smile. “…In case I needed to be reached.”

“…Certainly… Thank you…” And he glanced down at the business card. “I’ll make sure Lupin receives this.”

“He has one already, don’t worry.” She gave him one last smile to him, and Goemon glanced down at the card once more, and slipped it to the sleeve of his kimono.  
And he stopped right before he was out the door of the hotel. He stopped dead in his tracks.

Wait a damn minute.

Had that woman just given him her number?

He kept his distance from Lupin and Jigen as they walked back to the getaway car—Lest they see how red his face had become at this realization.

 

Zenigata had thought he’d married his high school sweetheart. In reality, he’d married an emotional vampire. That was the only reasonable conclusion Zenigata drew as he shuffled up the stairs. Fortunately, his phone batter had taken pity on him and had the good sense to die in the middle of their argument.

He hoped she hadn’t been able to figure out where he was staying—She was in Japan, but he wouldn’t have held it against her to fly out halfway across the world just to tear out his throat, either metaphorically or literally.

His partner had claimed her bed when she opened the door for him upon his arrival. Outfits laid out neatly and already placed on hangers, a stack of files, and a few snacks with writing on it in a language he couldn’t begin to understand.

“Want one?” Natasha held up a bag of what he assumed were chips, and he shook his head in response. “…You look beat. I noticed you were looking at your phone a lot. Some… Trouble or something?”

“Nothing I want to talk about.”

“Right. Sorry.” She flashed and apologetic smile and set the case files down on the desk of the hotel room. 

“We’ll be here all night, so get comfortable, Yadin.” He unpacked his own suitcase, and tossed her one of his old standbys—A cup of instant Ramen.

“Um… What flavor is this?” she asked as she inspected the packaging.

“Pork cutlet. Not bad with soy sauce.”

“Sorry… I can’t eat this.”

“Eh? Beggars can’t be choosers out on the field.”

“No… I’m Jewish.”

Zenigata gave a blank stare at this.

“I don’t eat pork? It’s a thing I don’t do. I eat kosher?”

More blank staring, but whatever. “…Okay… I have some shrimp in here, too…” 

He looked back up at her, only to see her shrugging her shoulders. 

“Not that, either?” The old man hung his head and sighed. “…Fine. Let’s go get some groceries. But then we’re back on the case!”

“Thanks, Inspector.”


End file.
